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Newbie buying advice needed. We live in Minnesota and looking to purchase our first hot tub. Brands we're looking at are Dimension One, Bullfrog, Sundance, Cal spas, Hot springs, maybe Marquis (based on some good suggestions I've seen in these forums). So far we've wet tested Hot Springs and Dimension One. Looked at Sundance (no wet test). Like the vibe of our local Dimension One dealer - they seem like nice, regular guys - no rehearsed hard-sell pitch. And they've been around awhile. We're leaning toward a 7 - 8' open seating tub. We're "wee folk" (all definitely under 6 foot) with two 15 year old boys. We're finding that tubs with a raised center foot area help us stay in our seats better. Also, some of the seats have upper back jets that are a bit too wide for our compact frames - the narrower jet placement seems to be more effective. The D1 Nautilus seems like a nice fit for an 8 footer, but only one seat has upper back jets narrow enough for my wife. The Nautique (7 foot model) looks to have narrower upper back jets and the bonus of four of the adjustable quad-jet neck pillows. Haven't wet tested that yet, but our concern might be that a 7 foot tub get a little crowded for more than 4 people (but maybe that's ok - we're a family of four so if we have guests, take turns). We'll probably try to arrange a wet test. We did wet test the Nautilus, but except for one seat, the upper back jets were placed a little wide. Also wet tested the Meridian, but really missed having the raised center foot area - felt like we were floating away a lot of the time. We haven't done any negotiating, but Nautique pricing out of the gate from our dealer is $8,900 for a 2014 model loaded with lights, water feature and stereo, or $9,800 for a 2015 model with lights and water feature but no stereo. Neither include cover or lift pricing. Do those seem like reasonable prices? Water feature and stereo are not something we'd pay extra for, but if it's a good price for an existing model... Any advice from others out there, especially folks of "smaller stature". We haven't looked at Bullfrog yet, but the interchangeable jetpacks seem like they'd really provide the ability to customize that jet placement, but I assume that comes with a cost attached. Thanks!

Hello and thank you in advance for your help. We are purchasing a new hot tub - not our first, but the first time we've purchased ourselves. We are trying to stay under $7000. Powerful jets are my number one concern because I use the tub for serious therapy. I've been looking so far at Caldera - the Vacanza Series, Vanto ($6500 quote), fits our budget but I'm a bit concerned about power and its warranty. The Bullfrog is intriguing - I realize I'll never buy new jetpacks, but it is nice to start with a customized tub (I have a $7500 quote on the R6) I'm hoping to go look at the Dimension One tubs tomorrow but I have no idea if any are in my price range. I had thought the Costco Evolution and/or Divine series tubs looked good, but after reading some posts here I'm not so sure. One local company sells Riviera Spas - haven't been there yet. Also, we need to have at least one side at 84" or less due to space restrictions. Being a small-sized family (all under 5'4") a lounger is probably useless for us - I know our last Caldera spa lounger went unused. Any suggestions/ comments are much appreciated.